


The Rhythm of Our Life

by Megane



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: A Non Poetic Man vs. Machine, A Non Poetic Man vs. Nature, Canon-Typical Violence, Imperials Above Us!, Male Friendship, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Teamwork, The Rule of Cool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29852436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane/pseuds/Megane
Summary: Noctis and the others need to go to an outpost for information. Instead of taking the Regalia, they decide to jog the entire way. Just a day in the life — thankfully, Noctis had some music to listen to.





	The Rhythm of Our Life

"It's not much farther from here," Ignis said diplomatically as he examined the map. "Once we head past the outpost, we should be in the area."

"Wish they could've been a bit more specific," Prompto added.

Noctis watched everyone, his fingers stroking through the white feathers of his chocobo. Gladio walked over and placed a hand on the prince's shoulder. Giving it a shake, he asked,

"You ready?"

"Yeah. And I can hear you."

"Just making sure." Gladio withdrew his hand, smirking. "I know how you get." He turned his back to the prince and began walking forward. "Let's move out."

Noctis looked up to his chocobo and raised his hand higher. He petted the top of its head, and his avian companion trilled happily. Its eyes squeezed shut as the bird shook happily.

"We'll be back. Stay safe." Noctis smiled. "And try not to kick anything to death without me."

Before he could pull away entirely, the chocobo stepped closer and nudged him affectionately, and then, with a final call, it turned around and began walking into the pen with the other dyed birds. Noctis reached up to adjust his earbuds and then pulled his phone out of his pocket. He put on a lively folk song, and immediately, it got his blood pumping. He jumped in place for a couple of seconds and let out a steady breath. This was going to suck. He jogged in a half-circle and met up with his friends, who were waiting for him. Prompto reached out to pat Noctis on the back. Soon, the small group was off.

Noctis, not wanting to burn himself out during this trip, kept a steady jog. Gladio, naturally, kept point; Prompto and Ignis kept to the right and left, respectively. It wasn't uncommon for the four of them to leave the Regalia behind and rough it to their destination. Most times they did it, though, were completely by accident and them underestimating how far their point of interest was. But they did have moments like this where they just wanted to breathe in the fresh air and take in their surroundings more organically.

The sky was a brilliant blue-white, and there wasn't a single cloud to be seen. The sun had already risen, giving the early morning a comfortable warmth about it. Noctis let out a harsh breath and tiredly turned his gaze towards the trees lining a hill to his left. He could just barely make out the voretooth creatures within. He saw them creep through cover. One gave an odd twitch before lurching forward towards a target Noctis couldn't see. A flock of birds took to the sky, arching away in two different directions before coming together as one.

To his left, he saw a large body of water. It seemed shallow from here, but he knew better. There was a massive creature, though not catoblepas big, stalking through and causing ripples wherever it trudged. A smaller version, perhaps a baby, slowly followed behind. Noctis heard the area was a prime fishing spot, and he hoped to visit it soon.

Looking forward, he saw Ignis and Prompto talking. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but when Prompto looked over his shoulder to smile, Noctis offered one of his own in return, even if he didn't really feel it. Gladio's head jerked up, and just from that motion, Noctis could already tell what was coming.

He leaned forward and sprinted between Prompto and Ignis. Reaching out, Noctis placed a hand on Gladio's back before rounding him. "Follow me!" he called out as he took to the hill. Even over his music, he could hear the hum of a Dreadnought closing in. He tilted his head up slightly to glare at the machinery as it neared. He soon returned his gaze forward and jumped over the metal barricade that was separating the road's shoulder from the grass. Noctis climbed up the steep slope, and just as he came to the top, he saw something brown and red skitter past. Just what he wanted. He summoned the Drain Lance in hand and kept his focus on a voretooth that was trying to get the drop on him. If he had to guess, the rest of its pack was probably close by.

"Noct!" Prompto yelled from behind.

"Take cover!" was the last thing Noctis said before he chucked his lance towards the voretooth.

He warped with the weapon. The strike was enough to heavily damage the creature, and he back flipped off its form. Just as he rounded the height of his jump and when his back towards the ground, he threw his lance up towards the sky. First, he saw trees, and then he saw the sky. Just as he appeared, several Magitek soldiers fell past him. A couple paused near the edge and aimed their guns. Noctis protected against the shots with a twirl of his lance, and as they paused to reload, he threw his Drain Lance once more. The sudden shift between falling horizontally and standing vertically threw him slightly and upset his stomach. To stay focused, he concentrated on the music still present in his ears. There was a small group of Magitek that hadn't jumped off yet, but here, he could at least engage them in a dance.

The gunners were easily disposed off, but the guys with the swords? Noctis scoffed. These were always a pain in his ass. While he dodged out of the way of a spinning blade, he did notice that there was still a banner man among them. That gave him an idea. Noctis somersaulted backwards out of the way of an attack, and as he rolled, he launched himself backwards and double kicked a soldier in the back. It fell from the edge of the Dreadnought just as Noctis landed on his feet. It was him and the banner man now. Out of all the soldiers, this one was never really a threat. Noctis ran forward, spun around, and began forcing it forward. It staggered and tried to resist his aggression, but it was no use. Just as it came to the edge, Noctis jumped up, grabbed it by the shoulder with one hand, and pressed his knees into its back. The banner man fell forward.

This was an odd experience for Noctis. He was essentially dive bombing towards the ground with no other plan than to bring some creative destructive to whatever was below him.

"You better be out of the way!" he shouted at the top of his lungs right as he neared the tree canopies.

He raised his left hand and summoned his lance again. The banner man broke through the branches. When a clear spot on the ground appeared, Noctis chucked his weapon in that direction. He landed with his hands curled around the middle of the lance. Behind him, there was a devastating crash and a loud groan of metal. He heard his companions express their awe and confusion in turn as he rose up to his feet. Noctis looked over his shoulder and saw that the pack of voretooth was attacking the most destructive threat here. There seemed to be more of them now. Noctis didn't want to sit around and see what happened.

"Let's get out of here," he said as he began sprinting forward.

"Noctis, wait!" Ignis called out, but the prince was already charging ahead. The only thing the others could do was follow behind.

Noctis was glad when they found a food truck to buy some food and water at halfway through the trip. He checked his phone, and they had been on the road for an hour already. An hour and they were only _halfway_ done. He groaned loudly and sank forward in the plastic chair. At least the music that played this time was more mellow and refreshing. It was a contrast to how sore and overheated he felt. Before long, the four kept on going.

Once they hit an open plain with large rocks, they stumbled into another encounter. It was more of an ambush, and the first creature just barely missed the prince. Noctis hauled when a stinger the size of his forearm zipped past his face. His eyes widened in shock, and he was able to warp step out of the way to avoid something else. Not only were these damned killer bees out to ruin their day, but there was an arba in their midst as well. And this thing was pissed.

Noctis sighed through parted lips and concentrated his will before rapidly dodging the barrage of stinger attacks that followed. He danced backwards on his feet, shaking his shoulders as he moved out of range of the last killer bee. He brought his hands together and conjured a broadsword. Readying the swing was always slower than he would have liked, and by the time he jumped forward, he just barely managed to swing his sword down on top of a killer bee before its attack could connect. He rocked back onto his feet but was then sent sailing by a stray arba kick.

"Noct!" Gladio yelled.

"I'm good," Noctis groaned in response as he got to his feet. Looking to his right, he saw another bee zipping towards him, and he dove out of the way. When he stood, he had dual daggers in each hand.

Taking a page out of Ignis' book, Noctis flung each dagger with underhanded flicks of his wrist as he calmly walked backwards. The killer bee that attacked him flinched from each attack, but before he could take off, Noctis warp striked over towards it. He felt its massive body give under his weight. He twisted backwards and blindly tossed his dagger. It would either get him closer to his friends or closer to his enemy. In a great stroke of luck, he hit another killer bee and took it down. The arba, by this point, reared back onto its hind legs and began kicking into the air. It leapt forward and made its way straight towards Noctis, who watched it happen with wide eyes. Before he could think, his companion's name flew from his lips.

"Gladio!"

"I'm on it!"

Gladio wrenched Noctis back and spun around the prince. Just as he raised his arm, a large, embroidered shield appeared to protect him. The arba stamped down with both feet. The impact was enough to dent the earth beneath Gladio, but the King's Shield was not deterred. With a vicious grin, he cast the creature back and summoned his Masamune. Gladio took a step forward and used a powerful downward slash to strike the creature down. Bullets rapidly whizzed past Noctis' as Prompto began mowing down the airborne pests. Ignis jogged closer to pull Noctis further out of harm's way.

"I'm fine," the prince said, seeing the calculating but concerned look on Ignis' face. Out of reflex, Noctis reached up to adjust this earbuds. "Take care of that thing first."

"Indeed."

Ignis sharply turned left and began running towards Gladio, who saw him coming. Instead of standing upright normally from his hunched over position, Gladio swung around and held out his shielded arm towards Ignis. As soon as Ignis' polished shoe came in contact with the shield, Gladio flung his friend up towards the skies. Ignis opened his arms out as he flipped gracefully in the air. When he came around, he summoned the Dragoon Lance and surged downward. Noctis turned his head away as a shockwave emerged from the impact. He protected his eyes from the rise of dirt and grass that got blown towards him. When everything settled, he lowered his arms and felt the familiar touch of Prompto's hand on his shoulder. The two of them watched as Ignis and Gladio began reaping the rewards from their battle. Noctis' arms were shaking from adrenaline, and he was so charged from the fight that he had forgotten what they were doing in the first place. That is until they started to run again.

A ballad began to play this time.

"This is killing me," Noctis groaned. He threw his head back, closed his eyes, and continued forward anyway.

"Tch. It's not that bad," Gladio grumbled up ahead.

Prompto slid into Noctis' space and jogged beside his friend. He reached up and tugged an earbud out with a flick of his finger. "C'mon, Mr. DJ. Share some tunes with the rest of us. We've been running here in silence the whole time."

"S'not my fault," Noctis said, but he decided to play something anyway.

None of them broke their stride as Noctis pulled out his earphones and wrapped them up. He hastily stowed them away into a pocket. He was going to forget which one later. With that out of the way, he decided to switch back to what he had played in the beginning. The lively folk song filled the air again.

"Aww, yeah. Now we're in this," Prompto said.

"Only now? We're almost there," Ignis teased.

"You know what I mean!"

Noctis huffed a laugh and kept his phone in his hand. Prompto jogged back into his earlier position. Thinking on it now, Noctis reached down to press the Random Track button. Whatever came next would hopefully keep things interesting. If another ballad came on though, Noctis would finally see if he could somehow fall asleep while still moving.

By now, the Sun was shining in its full glory. The heat was bordering on unpleasant (maybe that was just from all the activity), and even though they had already eaten, Noctis was starting to get that pang in his stomach. A car passed by the group, and Noctis watched it go, almost envious of its speed and air-conditioned space.

Gladio pointed forward to a building on the side of the road. On either side of it were numerous shipping crates bordered off by chain link fences. One of the fenced areas had a tall tower. "There it is."

"Finally," Noctis said again with tired relief. "I'm starving."

"Starving? Already?" Ignis threw Noctis a look of disbelief. "We just set out not too long ago."

"I've no idea what your idea of 'not too long' is, Iggy," Noctis replied, panting, "but my stomach and body say otherwise."

Gladio snorted. "Stop being a wuss."

"I'm with Noct on this one," Prompto added.

"Of course. The babies gotta stick together."

Noctis rolled his eyes, too tired to properly retaliate or form a valid argument. "Whatever."

Ignis gave a small, amused smile and set his attention forward. The four crossed the road (there was a joke in there somewhere), and as soon as the grass gave way to asphalt, Noctis was already making a beeline to the nearest food supply. In this case, it was the rundown diner just to the right of where they needed to be.

The others started to slow down, but Noctis used his maintained speed to grab Prompto by the arm and pull him over towards the diner.

"Where're you going?" Gladio asked.

"Food and sitting down. You two take care of the boring stuff."

Gladio started to refuse them, but Noctis knew without looking that Ignis stopped him somehow. "We'll see you in a bit, Highness. We'll take care of things from here."

Okay, not too great with the "Highness" thing, but at least it was still an okay to chill out for a bit. Unfortunately, Prompto had been paying attention as well.

"Sounds like someone's in trouble— _Ow!"_

Noctis had shifted his hand to pinch under Prompto's arm before pulling away. "You and me both, probably."

Prompto pouted but followed Noctis into the diner. "That hurt, y'know!"

"Yeah, yeah." Noctis pressed a hand to his mouth, kissed it, and then spun around. He smushed his palm against Prompto's face. "There, all better."

"Gwah!" Prompto took a dramatic step back. Noctis raspily laughed as he walked into the air conditioned building. "Not cool!" his friend called after him.

Eh. Noctis didn't really care. He found a booth and flopped into it. Seconds later, Prompto was right with him, sliding in on the other side. Noctis brought up his phone and finally paused the music. The battery was still holding up nicely, but for once, he was hearing the true sounds of the world around him. It was pleasant though not entirely quiet. The pinball machines were idly making their noises to seem appealing to anyone nearby. There was a radio perched somewhere, and the newscaster was rattling on about the weather.

Looking straight across, Noctis saw Prompto occupying himself with one of the menus that had been stashed in a holder on the table. Noctis let out a soft sigh and sank back into his seat. He'd worry about what he wanted to eat in a bit. For now, he was losing himself in the ambient sounds of the world around him. Though it didn't have rhythm or a beat, this was the music of life he could very easily lose himself to. And that was alright by him.


End file.
